For people with diabetes, successful management requires monitoring the effects lifestyle changes can have in both short-term and long-term time frames. Regular testing of their blood glucose level can be an important part of diabetes management as a way to track changes throughout the day. For example, portable handheld medical diagnostic devices are often employed to measure concentrations of biologically significant components of bodily fluids, such as, for example, glucose concentration in blood. To test glucose with a glucose meter, a small sample of blood may be placed on a disposable test strip. The portable handheld glucose meter may include a strip port that receives the disposable test strip. The test strip may be coated with chemicals (glucose oxidase, dehydrogenase, or hexokinase) that combine with glucose in blood allowing it to measure the concentration of glucose in the blood sample. The portable handheld glucose meter then displays the glucose concentration as a number (or glucose measurement value). As a result, the portable handheld medical diagnostic devices and their accessories may work together to measure the amount of glucose in blood and be used to monitor glucose levels in one's home, healthcare facility or other location, for example, by persons having diabetes or by a healthcare professional.
Patients and healthcare professionals may thereby track and analyze glucose measurements over a period of time to asses changes in the patient over the course of a day, week or other desirable timeframe. For example, some healthcare professionals may instruct a patient to obtain glucose measurements seven or more times a day over a course of a few consecutive days so that patients may observe the changes their measurements undertake. However, such repetitious testing may be tedious for a patient and difficult to maintain. Furthermore, the significance in changing lifestyle factors (such as meal portions or physical activity) may not always be immediately noticeable to all patients. While patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes who have progressed to full insulin dependence may immediately notice the consequences of missed glucose testing and/or insulin dosing, patients not dependent on insulin largely work towards long term benefits that may be difficult to appreciate in the short term. As such, patients seeking immediate rewards may lack motivation to effectively monitor their diabetes or embrace beneficial changes to their daily routines. Thus it may be desirable to provide alternative methods and apparatuses for monitoring glucose levels through concentrating testing around a specific event to allow for a simpler assessment of how small changes can influence their physical condition.